9. So Sakayanagi Arisu is someone with connections!
What should a true genius look like?
When her flaws overshadowed her strengths, Sakayanagi Arisu still didn't believe she had lost to Aragaki Shun in terms of intellect.
But tragically, her body couldn't even support her to complete this match.
Being stubborn was meaningless.
Even though she was confident her intellect was second to none, she could hardly compete with others using her intellect even on the chessboard she had played with for over a decade.
In what way could this so-called "genius's intellect" be demonstrated?
The girl couldn't help but once again detest this frail body of hers, afflicted with a congenital heart disease!
"Forget it."
Aragaki Shun frowned, looking at Sakayanagi blocking him, her eyes filled with a stubbornness that prevented him from leaving.
He couldn't understand why such a seemingly delicate girl would go to such lengths, disregarding her own body.
But everyone's ideals were often shaped by their unique life experiences.
Outsiders, not having experienced their suffering, naturally couldn't understand.
All Aragaki Shun could do was to quickly end this situation, lest it really escalate and send this person to the hospital, which would be a real headache.
Thus, he picked up a black piece from the chessboard, seized the mistake Sakayanagi had made earlier, and moved it to the key position that would decide victory or defeat.
With this move, even the chess club members whose skills were inferior to theirs could see that multiple white pieces were simultaneously in jeopardy.
In the next few moves, Sakayanagi Arisu would have to continuously sacrifice important pieces to avoid being checkmated.
In this situation, even if the girl persisted, the best outcome would only be to constantly prolong the time, struggling towards a draw.
But with her mind already muddled, to pursue a draw?
Did she really want to go straight to the hospital?
"How about it? This match ends here. When you've accumulated enough points next time, you're welcome to challenge me again!"
Aragaki Shun said so, and incidentally glanced at a few middle-aged men in the crowd of onlookers who were clearly looking somewhat uneasy, constantly watching Sakayanagi Arisu, and hesitating whether to step forward.
This demeanor, which didn't match that of school teachers, and this display of concern for Sakayanagi Arisu's physical condition—could they be professional medical personnel hired by her family?
When he first saw that cane, Aragaki Shun had thought she merely had trouble with her legs.
Now it seemed that frail appearance might very well be due to a heart problem.
So, was her family fine letting her run around the school with such a body, or was the school sick, daring to recruit anyone?
This doubt just arose, and he then thought that the chairman of this school was also surnamed Sakayanagi.
And Advanced Nurturing High, which claimed three years of closed education, why would there be medical personnel specifically taking care of a certain student?
Case solved, so the school was her home, right!
Tsk, why did such a troublesome person have to be in the same grade as him?
After pondering for a few seconds, Aragaki Shun directly looked at the teacher who had witnessed this match and signed the contract for them.
—Still not stepping forward to announce the result, do you really want to watch your chairman's relatives collapse?
"This match ends here. The winner is Year 1 Class B, Aragaki Shun. According to the contract, Year 1 Class A, Sakayanagi Arisu, must pay him five hundred thousand points."
Fortunately, the supervising teacher of the chess club didn't drop the ball.
It was unknown whether the chairman had given instructions to the school staff early on, or if it was just concern about the trouble a student collapsing would cause.
In any case, after receiving Aragaki Shun's signal, he didn't delay and directly stepped forward to announce the result.
Aragaki Shun breathed a sigh of relief and prepared to leave.
Unexpectedly, Sakayanagi Arisu, who he thought would continue to cause trouble, merely stared blankly at the situation on the chessboard after hearing the result, without any other impatient actions.
Fortunately, it was like this.
Otherwise, he would have thought the other party was really going to use her weak body to confront him.
"...Aragaki-kun, are you really just an amateur player who only plays chess occasionally for fun?"
Sakayanagi Arisu looked up and suddenly asked him this question.
However, the next moment, recalling Aragaki Shun's increasingly profound skills in the previous chess game, from easily solvable to unfathomable.
Sakayanagi couldn't help but admit bitterly in her heart that there really were geniuses in this world who could surpass a normal person's ten years of effort with just last-minute cramming.
Yes, normal person!
This was the first time Sakayanagi Arisu had so powerlessly referred to herself.
It's not like she hasn't lost on the chessboard before.
But those people were either older professional players, where she could console herself with her lack of experience; or they were specialized students who made a living by playing chess, where she could explain that chess was just one of her daily hobbies.
But now she had encountered a peer who clearly hadn't invested much energy in chess, yet could catch up to her ten years of persistence within a few hours just by concentrating.
Heh, priding herself as a genius, surrounded by her family's praise since childhood, it turned out she was only at this ridiculous level...
Seeing the girl seemingly caught in a net like fish and shrimp, dejected on her own, Aragaki Shun inexplicably felt a bit embarrassed.
He felt like he was bullying a little girl, shattering her childhood fantasies.
"Sakayanagi-san, it's getting late. Why don't you transfer the lost points to me first, then go back to your dorm and think alone?"
Shattered is shattered.
Children will eventually have to face the reality that Santa Claus doesn't exist.
I'm not familiar with her, how to comfort her is something her parents should consider.
The members of the chess club all stared at him.
Even Shibata looked at him with an expression that said, "This guy is hopeless."
Sakayanagi Arisu, who was in a state of sorrow, her face twisted at once.
My father is the chairman, would I really renege on these fifty hundred thousand points?
At this moment, Aragaki Shun's unfathomable image in the girl's eyes instantly shattered into pieces.
Glaring fiercely at this fellow, she resentfully transferred five hundred thousand points via her phone.
Looking again at the still considerable number of points left on her phone, she hesitated whether to schedule the next match with him right now.
But after this experience, whether she was willing or not, she had to admit that as long as she remained in this frail body, she absolutely could not win against any opponent of similar chess skill.
In the past, she was not convinced of this, until the facts told her that once she used her brain fully for half an hour and still couldn't determine the winner, she would be forced into a pathetic situation of losing without being defeated.
Seeing that the girl really had the intention of scheduling another game, Aragaki Shun felt a bit of a headache.
He really didn't want to play against someone who could collapse on the field at any moment!
Not to mention whether he would be rumored to be bullying a disabled person, just the fact that her relationship with the school's chairman was unclear—
"Sakayanagi-san, I'd like to ask, what is your relationship with Chairman Sakayanagi?"
"...He is indeed my father."
"As expected. It's getting late now, let's say goodbye here."
...